Doing Nothing? Hardly

Do Nothing Cake 

My blog breaks keep getting longer and longer, don't they? What can I say. I'm getting older and older. We have had a strange month here but things are getting back to normal. So I was back in the kitchen today. It's my turn to take dessert to book club. 

Easy Skillet Apple Pie

I planned to take somthing easy--like the Easy Skillet Apple Pie. It's always a winner. And it's a little bit of a show off recipe when you walk in with a cast iron pan. Easy to make, but I needed a trip to the store for apples and pie crust and ice cream.  Then my day didn't start like I thought it would. 

Brownie Pudding

Not to worry. I decided I would make a Brownie Pudding like the granddaughters baked this summer. Even easier to make than the apple pie. We have never had it at book club and I had all the ingredients here. It's so good. But it's so much better with ice cream. That still meant a trip to the grocery store. Time to change gears one more time.

Do Nothing Cake

Do Nothing Cake!!! Even the name suited my situation. A quick check in the pantry yielded both cans of crushed pineapple–a 15-oz can for the cake and an 8-oz can for the frosting. The only other ingredients are self-rising flour*, sugar, eggs and vanilla. It is a rare day when I don't have those basics on hand. Best of all...I didn't need ice cream! NO shopping needed today.

If you google "do nothing cake" the traditional recipes have a coconut-pecan topping. Life is better for Daddy-O when he avoids nuts so when I saw this recipe in our rural electric co-op magazine years ago, I knew we needed to switch it up. I found this pineapple topping online and it worked so well that I can't imagine this cake any other way now.

It has been 10 years since this recipe has been here on the blog. It is definitely time to re-introduce it. 

DO NOTHING CAKE

2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large can (15-oz.) crushed pineapple

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients together with a spoon. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Icing:
1/2 stick butter
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Blend well. Pour over hot cake.

PS...the cake was even better the next day. More moist.

All of the desserts linked above are delicious. All are pretty simple to make. But this cake is hands down the easiest to make and the easiest to take. One dish. No ice cream to keep frozen on someone else's kitchen. And it is every bit as delicious as the others. This is a moist, tender cake that we have loved for years.

*If you do not keep self-rising flour on hand, you can also google "do nothing cake" and find recipes that use plain flour, baking powder and salt. 

Looking Back At Thanksgiving

Skillet Apple Pie

This look at our Thanksgiving nearly got lost when I interrupted my blogging to add the paper angel how-to a few days ago. But this recipe is too good and too easy not to share. You'll find the recipe at the end.

We had a revolving door kind of family gathering. But we did get to see everyone but J-Daddy who had to stay home while some home repairs were in progress. Our little girls are becoming big girls.

As soon as they headed home the other set of family arrived. I really think they waved at each other as they were coming and going up and down I-85. This smallest granddaughter is learning all about life at the farm. She is an independent little thing who has learned about opening and closing pasture gates already. And she had a go at driving the tractor with Daddy-O. That's a rite of passage here.

And on our last night of family time we enjoyed a backyard bonfire. We never got to the marshmallow part of this evening, so we will likely have Christmas s'mores in a few weeks. (FYI...this was our first fire in our Solo fire pit. It does indeed work as advertised.)

I promise. I'm getting to the pie recipe. But I wanted to talk about pillowcases for just a minute. The Santa Claus pillow case here was made by my mother many many years ago. Our children, and now our grandchildren look forward to sleeping on them Christmas Eve. I have four of these. It's a family tradition that I'm sure my mother never anticipated would last this long. She really was not a maker in general. Except for these pillow cases that I've had for decades now. 

I've found that the best traditions are the ones that just happen. I've never had much luck with intentional plans to create a tradition. But I treasure these that create themselves.

In that spirit, daughter Jessica wanted a set for her house. I think the plan—in the beginning—was that she was going to make some herself. But along came a baby and a house move and she sent up the mom-style bat signal. And even then I let that fabric sit on my sewing machine for a long time. 

But this Christmas they are in their new old (as in historic) house and it was time. I whipped myself into action just days before they came for Thanksgiving and sent her home with two sets. Two pillow cases for a queen bed and three for the king size bed.

I had let this fabric sit on my sewing machine for a long time. And then I LOVED working with this fabric. It felt so good in my hands. I can imagine how good they will feel at bedtime. Jessica found this cotton Tana Lawn by Liberty online and ordered both colors because she loved the whimsical Christmas print.

Because the fabric was so special I made these pillow cases with French seams that will wear well.  Hopefully Jessica will be tucking in her grandchildren on Christmas Eve years from now and tell about Mimi who made the pillow cases.

 

And now to the pie recipe. Finally. It was the easiest thing to make. And it makes a great presentation in the skillet. I'm sending a big thank you to my friend Missy who texted me the recipe and said, "also made this...a huge hit!" Missy is one of those friends who never steers me wrong in the kitchen. (Notice she said "also." I'll get to her other recipe soon.)

When I started this, I envisioned a sticky, hard-to-clean mess in the bottom of the skillet. But as it baked it turned into a thinner caramel type syrup. Cleaning was no problem. Hang on to this recipe. It's easy enough for a family supper and good enough for a company meal. 

EASY SKILLET APPLE PIE 

4 lbs apples, half Granny Smith & half Braeburn or Macintosh

good squeeze of lemon juice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 box refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts per box)

1 egg white

2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 350º. Peel and slice apples into 1/2 inch slices. Squeeze a little lemon juice over apples and toss. Then toss apples with cinnamon and 3/4 cup sugar and a pinch of salt.

Melt butter in 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes until sugar is melted. Remove from heat and place one pie crust on top of butter mixture. Spoon apples over pie crust. Top with remaining pie crust. (I didn't try to crimp the edges because the pan is hot. Just tuck in anything that hangs over.) 

Whisk egg white until foamy and brush over crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut slits in the top crust so the steam can escape. 

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly. If the crust is browning too quickly, shield with foil for the last 10 minutes.

Cool for 30 minutes before serving. And y'all...it begged for a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

I set my skillet on a cookie sheet just in case anything dripped while baking. It did not. But it turned out the pan made it easier to get the skillet into and out of the oven. 

Spring Break 2021

Last night's twilight

I've been quiet here on the blog because we've been on spring break. Actually it's Mommy and J-Daddy and the little girls who have truly had a school spring break. They opted to spend their vacation at the farm. So we came down to the lake to let them have full use of our house and yard and farm. It's been great all around. 

Like so many grandparents this past year, our time with the grandchildren has been nearly non-existent. We had not been close enough to touch them in almost a year. It was splendid to get to hug those little girls. Even if we had our masks on. 

Easter Dinner

Our lake house is only 45 minutes away from the farm so we've able to see them several times. The first time was on Easter Sunday. We were invited to our own back yard for Easter dinner. We are still being careful until everyone is fully vaccinated, so our backyard became the dining room. And it was perfect. Not too hot or humid. Not too cold. No mosquitos yet. "Delightful" is the word that comes to mind. We don't get many days like this.

Red velvet birthday cake

Baby Girl had a birthday just a couple of days before they came to the farm, so we saved the celebration until we were together. Last year she had the first Zoom birthday party of the lockdown. This was so much more fun. They got to the farm on Saturday afternoon. How J-Daddy managed to bake a cake in time for Sunday lunch, I'm not sure. It was delicious. I'll share the recipe soon.

Grilled Atlantic char, kale salad & grits topped w/prosciutto

Let me make it clear that our son-in-law was the main chef this week. This was his idea of a vacation. He enjoys cooking and especially enjoys cooking in my big kitchen. We were happy to be dinner guests. At our own house. Seriously. I could get used to this. (Mommy says she's ready to hand the holiday cooking back to me!)

After dinner that particular evening, we enjoyed dancing on the patio to some easy jazz. I loved it when Baby Girl told me, "This is a glorious night." Yes. Yes it was. We made some good memories this week. 

They have done some serious memory making of their own at the farm, too. We have lots of space there for riding bikes, scooters and roller skating. Two swings hang from the huge old oak tree in our front yard. And there is a river way back behind our house.

Riverside nap

They hiked across the field and through the woods to the river several times. A picnic by the river was a big treat one day. And at night the sky at the farm is really dark. Not much light pollution in the country. So they could look at the stars and find constellations.

See the red kite? 

Another day, kite flying was the activity. The pasture right beside the house is a perfect kite flying space. They are absolutely positive they set a record for flying the highest kite. One car passing by slowed down to watch the red kite gliding high above the ground. 

Meanwhile, here at the lake we've had a lovely time. It's quiet here in early spring. But with enough fishermen passing for us to not feel isolated. It is also the short weather window when we can leave the doors open and enjoy letting the outside come inside. I can sit comfortably inside and watch the sunlight sparkling on the water and hear the birds. Bliss!

Daddy-O fished. He even caught a couple. I brought my knitting and...call me crazy...but I bought a keyboard to leave down here so that I could keep practicing. My latest hobby? Learning to play jazz piano. If nothing else it's great brain exercise to try and learn a new way of playing. (It will be a better hobby when I get an adaptor to plug in my headphones. Daddy-O is getting tired of the ballad I've played about a thousand times this week.)

Lobster tail, baked sweet potato & broccoli

One night I was the single backyard guest. Daddy-O had a dinner meeting. Boy, did he miss a good meal. I have never cooked lobster of any kind. And surely never imagined having one in my back yard. 

Blueberry pie

The recipe for this blueberry pie is here on the blog. It's always a winner. And as pie goes, it's pretty easy to make. Nothing to peel or slice. J-Daddy has made this many times. I'm always happy to be around when he bakes one.

Low country boil & hush puppies

One evening they drove down to the lake. And brought the fixings with them and cooked supper down here. Could life get any better? Like I said earlier—I could get used to this. We love low country boil (recipe is in the index here) and the open pavilion here at the lake is the kind of place where this casual meal tastes best. It turned out to be a cool night so we rummaged around and found some of Mimi's sweatshirts for the girls. And rolled the sleeves way up. Why do kids love wearing borrowed clothes that are way too big?

It was too windy to stay on the pier very long. But they did have fun blowing giant bubbles. I can't wait for them to come back in the summer and do this again when the wind is not in charge of how big the bubbles are.

The nights we did not have dinner together, I would get pictures of what was happening in my kitchen at home. Yes. J-Daddy makes sushi, too. I think he has two more meals before their vacation is over. I will wait patiently to see photos of the last two dinners. He did some serious menu planning to make this all work out.

Then it will be time for all of us to pack and head back home to our respective homes. And my kitchen won't know what's happened next week when the only things being cooked are just plain ordinary food. We will miss them terribly. But goodness it's been fun!

I don't know about you, but I wanted to document the mask wearing. Many years from now, we need to remember this year and all of the ways COVID changed our lives. You know about the terrible things it brought to many. But some good things have come about, too. While others are itching to travel again, I have decided it doesn't get much better than here where we live. I learned that Dorothy was right—there's no place like home.

 

There Is Still Time To Bake

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie

I'm baking this morning. A pumpkin pie for tomorrow. And I nearly panicked when the recipe was not here on the blog. And it wasn't in the family cookbook that we use all the time. That book is so well loved that everyone's copy is falling apart. Then I remembered the original place I kept my favorite recipes. It was a blank book with a red plaid cover. My mother gave me the book for Christmas a zillion years ago with no particular purpose in mind.

And back in 1979, it became my recipe book. Yes, I dated the recipes as I added them and made notes about where I served a recipe, and if it was part of a meal, I even listed the guests in attendance. I do similar things here on the blog now. But nothing will take the place of this tattered little red book. It's nearly a history of my life—the early edition.

Anyway, to keep things where I search for them now, I'm adding my pumpkin pie recipe to the blog. This pie is very close to the classic one on the pumpkin can label. But I adjusted the spices years ago and added a little flour to give the filling more body.

Oven ready.

If you have the ingredients on hand, you've got time to do this pie for Thanksgiving. It's super easy. Just stir it all together. I used a refrigerated pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate.

THANKSGIVING PUMPKIN PIE

2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 15-oz can of pumpkin (NOT the pie filling kind)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
12-oz can evaporated milk
9-inch deep dish pie shell

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix filling ingredients in order listed. Pour into pie shell. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for about 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.


I find it helpful to measure out the spices before I start the rest of the mixing. And I stir together the spices with the sugar and flour before adding to the pumpkin/egg mixture. (That was a good job for my helper #1.) Seems to me that everything is easier to blend that way.

My helpers

Good luck with your Thanksgiving cooking if you are doing it this year. If something doesn't work out right (and I've already had that happen) just move on the the next thing. Either no one will remember, or it will be the story that everyone loves to tell from year to year. It works out either way.


UPDATE:  Mercy, I'm trying to do too much. This pie recipe was posted here last year. But without photos. Surely next year I can find it on one of these two blog posts!

Frozen Coconut-Pecan-Caramel Pie

Coconut-Caramel-Pecan Pie

Let's be honest. Our knitting day at the lake last week probably should have been called an eating day at the lake. Everything was so good. And it was fun to sample other folks' cooking. A real treat was the frozen pie that Mellie brought. That was the perfect dessert for a very hot day. And she gladly provided the recipe for me to share with you.

Yes. We knitters take our food seriously. 

And when it got too hot to knit outside, we moved inside.

Truthfully, I nearly forgot to make a picture of this pie. I tasted it (a big bite) and realized how delicious it was. <swoon> I flew back into the kitchen and plated the one intact slice left so that I could make this photo. It was that good. Worth stopping mid-dessert to make this picture for you. Thank you, Mellie, for bringing the pie and sharing the recipe.

COCONUT-CARAMEL-PECAN PIE

3 regular 9-inch frozen pie shells (or 2 deep 9-in pie shells)*
1/4 cup butter
1 (7-oz) package flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 (8-oz) block cream cheese, softened
1 (14-oz) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 (16-oz) Cool Whip
1 (12-oz) jar caramel, butterscotch or chocolate ice cream topping

Bake pie shells according to directions and cool.

Melt butter in skillet. Add coconut and pecans. Cook until golden brown, stirring frequently.           Remove from heat and let cool.

Combine cream cheese and Eagle Brand milk, and beat until smooth. Fold in cool whip.  Layer ¼ of the cream cheese mixture in the pie shells.  Drizzle ¼ of ice cream topping over the cream cheese mixture.  Sprinke the nuts and coconut evenly over the topping.  Repeat the layering again.  1) cream cheese mixture, 2) Topping, 3) Coconut and nuts.  Cover and freeze until firm.                                                

Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Refreeze leftovers. 

        *Note: Can use 2 graham cracker pie crusts. 

One of our knitters was collecting some of the recipes from our lunch to use for Thanksgiving. She is hosting a large family gathering this year. This pie went on her list because it makes 3 pies and, like the sour cream muffins, can be made ahead of time and stored in the freezer. Her family is going to be happy.

Blueberry Pie

Blueberry Pie

I'm sitting here for a few minutes, printing out some recipes to take with us to the lake. The recipe for this blueberry pie was first on my list. We picked blueberries this morning at our neighbor's farm. My secret hope is that Mommy will make a blueberry pie this weekend while the whole family is at the lake. Yes—nine of us. And a big dog. In our tiny lake house with the postage stamp sized kitchen.

This recipe is simple enough to make down there, with our limited space and equipment. And it's the perfect July 4th dessert. We've used it before for our July 4th dessert, but I'm sharing this recipe again.

Whether you've picked the blueberries yourself, or picked them out at the grocery store, this pie will be a winner!

BLUEBERRY PIE

5 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (15-oz) package refrigerated pie crusts
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon sugar

Sprinkle berries with lemon juice; set aside.
Fit half of pastry in a 9-inch pie plate according to package directions.
Combine 1 sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon. Add to berries. Mix well.
Pour into pastry shell and dot with butter.
Unfold remaining pastry shell on a lightly floured surface; roll gently with rolling pin to remove creases.
Place pastry over filling; seal and crimp edges.
Cut slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape.
Brush top of pastry with beaten egg and sprinkle with 1 tsp. sugar.
Bake in a 400 degrees for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cover edges with foil to prevent overbrowning, if necessary.
Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.


Our lake house also has no internet. The television gets one channel. So I'm taking a technology break and a blog break for about a week to play with the little ones and visit with family and to keep everyone fed. 

~Happy 4th of July! ~

Strawberry Cobbler

Strawberry Cobbler

One more excellent strawberry dessert. This recipe is a new one to me, but Mommy had made it before. I was so happy to be around when she made it this time. It was absolutely delicious! This is one time I was a little sad that I am being so careful about eating sweets—doctors orders. I only had one spoonful. And it was about the best thing I've tasted in ages.

Daddy-O came down to visit for a couple of days while I was at Mommy's for the week. She did need to use the strawberries, but I think she made the cobbler especially for her daddy. He loved it! Grandchildren and strawberry cobbler. How perfect a visit was that for him?

STRAWBERRY COBBLER

1 cup self-rising flour (or, 1 c. all-purpose flour + 1/2 tsp salt & 1-1/2 tsp baking powder)
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups sweetened strawberries, fresh or frozen (used 1 cup sugar to sweeten berries)
1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter in a 2 to 2-1/2 quart casserole. While butter is melting, cut strawberries and sweeten with sugar and let stand while you mix batter.

Mix dry ingredients together. Stir in milk until smooth. Pour batter over melted butter. DO NOT STIR!

Pour strawberries down the center of batter. DO NOT STIR!  (Optional: Sprinkle about a tablespoon of sugar over the batter and strawberries to make a nice finish on baked cobbler.)

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until you can insert a knife into center of and peep into the cobbler. The batter should be cake-like and not soupy.

Ozark Pie

I am at the bottom of the apple basket. Finally. There were just a few small apples left yesterday, not enough for another apple pie. (Daddy-O's favorite apple dessert.) But I remembered this recipe that came from my sister over 30 years ago. It only needs one cup of chopped apple. I had enough apples to make this!

This recipe for Ozark Pie is not exactly a pie. If you do a Google search for this recipe, you'll see it called Ozark Pudding, too—and it isn't a pudding either. It has a wonderful crispy/chewy texture. It's a great dessert for the small amount of effort required.

Mommy ate it for breakfast. Yep, I baked this first thing in the morning while Baby Girl was asleep. Breakfast dessert. There is such a thing, isn't there? Mommy said she could have eaten it all. I do believe she stopped with two pieces.

The batter part of this dish is very stiff. I kind of had to pat it out into the dish. It bakes up with a crackled, crispy crust. It is delicious warm, but if you want neater slices, let it cool first. Next time I think I will use baking spray instead of regular PAM. 

I have no idea how this Ozark recipe came to my sister here in the deep South so many years ago—back before the internet and Pinterest and Google and food blogs from around the country. But we are happy it did. 

OZARK PIE

1 large egg

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup diced apple

1 cup chopped nuts

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat egg. Add sugar and beat well. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. (I just whisk it together instead of sifting.) Stir into egg/sugar mix. Blend well. Fold in apples, nuts and vanilla. Pour into well-greased 9-inch pie plate. 

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Morning Chores

Work on the farm starts early, before the day heats up. 

So early that Little Sister went out in her pajamas to help Daddy-O with his chores.

 First, they deadheaded the daisies.

Next they picked apples. 

We have a deal with the deer that wander through here at night. 

The deer get to eat all the apples that are low hanging. 

And Daddy-O gets to pick whatever is left up high.

Daddy-O and granddaughter worked a long time 

and picked all the apples they could reach.

Then Little Sister hitched a ride to the back yard in the wheelbarrow.

They brought me a basket full of apples. 

Red ones from one tree. Green apples from the other tree.

My own part in this venture was to use the apples.

First was an apple pie. 

I need to use the rest of them soon.

I'm kind of glad the deer ate half of the apples.

But tonight we enjoyed the pie. With ice cream.

APPLE PIE

6 cups thinly sliced apples (6-8 medium apples)

3/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

pie crust for double crust (I used refrigerated pie crust)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place one pie crust in an ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Press firmly against sides and bottom.

In a large bowl, gently mix filling ingredients. Spoon into pie crust, mounding slightly. Top with second crust. Wrap top crust edge under bottom crust edge, pressing to seal. Flute edge. Cut slits in top crust.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown Cover edge of pie crust with strips of foil after 15-20 minutes of baking to keep edges from over-browning. 

Cool for 2 to 3 hours before serving. 

Little Sister truly enjoyed the "fruits of her labor."

Baby Girl just wasn't interested in pie or apple picking at all.